Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Laboratory investigation of factors affecting mercury emissions from soils

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study was performed to identify the individual and combined effects of the most important parameters that control mercury (Hg) emissions from soil surfaces: temperature, UV-B exposure, and soil water content. Both soil temperature and UV-B exposure positively affected Hg emissions; however, the increment in Hg emissions was significantly different between wet and dry soils. Mercury emissions from wet soil were more sensitive to an increase in soil temperature than dry soil; however, at constant temperature dry soil emissions were more sensitive than wet soil to changes in UV-B exposure. It was also observed that even after the relative humidity in the soil pores (RHsp) dropped to nearly 0, the Hg emissions were still higher for initially wet soil than for dry soil, suggesting that initially high water content continued to promote Hg reduction mechanisms for an extended period. These results show the interacting effects of soil moisture with other important parameters. At constant water content, Hg emissions increased the most when the soil was exposed to UV-B radiation, followed by UV-A radiation. With UV-C exposure, atmospheric Hg deposition and O3 destruction were simultaneously observed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bahlmann E, Ebinghaus R, Ruch W (2004) The effect of soil moisture on the emission of mercury from soils. RMZ Mater Geoenviron 51:791–794

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahlmann E, Ebinghaus R, Ruck W (2006) Development and application of a laboratory flux measurement system (LFMS) for the investigation of the kinetics of mercury emissions from soils. J Environ Manage 81:114–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohn CC, Gebhardt K (1989) Comparison of hydrometer settling times in soil particle size analysis. J Range Manag 42(1):81–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouyoucos GJ (1962) Hydrometer method improved for making particle size analysis of soils. Agron J 54:464–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpi A, Lindberg SE (1997) Sunlight-mediated emission of elemental mercury from soil amended with municipal sewage sludge. Environ Sci Technol 31(7):2085–2091

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpi A, Lindberg SE (1998) Application of a Teflon dynamic flux chamber for quantifying soil mercury flux: test and results over background soil. Atmos Environ 32:873–882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpi A, Frei A, Cocris D, McCloskey R, Contreras E, Ferguson K (2007) Analytical artifacts produced by a polycarbonate chamber compared to a Teflon chamber for measuring surface mercury fluxes. Anal Bioanal Chem 388:361–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi HD, Holsen TM (2009a) Gaseous mercury fluxes from the forest floor of the Adirondacks. Environ Pollut 157:592–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi HD, Holsen TM (2009b) Gaseous mercury emissions from unsterilized and sterilized soils: the effect of temperature and UV radiation. Environ Pollut 157:1673–1678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corbett-Hains H, Walters NE, Heyst BJV (2012) Evaluating the effects of sub-zero temperature cycling on mercury flux from soils. Atmos Environ 63:102–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engle MA, Gustin MS, Zhang H (2001) Quantifying natural source mercury emissions from the Ivanhoe Mining District, north-central Nevada, USA. Atmos Environ 35:3987–3997

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engle MA, Gustin MS, Lindberg SE, Gertler AW, Ariya PA (2005) The influence of ozone on atmospheric emissions of gaseous elemental mercury and reactive gaseous mercury from substrates. Atmos Environ 39:7506–7517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericksen JA, Gustin MA, Xin M, Weisberg PJ, Fernandez GCJ (2006) Air–soil exchange of mercury from background soils in the United States. Sci Total Environ 366:851–863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fu XW, Feng XB, Wang SF (2008) Exchange fluxes of Hg between surfaces and atmosphere in the eastern flank of Mount Gongga, Sichuan province, southwestern China. J Geophys Res. doi:10.1029/2008JD009814

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu X, Feng X, Zhang H, Yu B, Chen L (2012) Mercury emissions from natural surfaces highly impacted by human activities in Guangzhou province, South China. Atmos Environ 54:185–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabriel MC, Williamson DG, Zhang H, Brooks S, Lindberg S (2006) Diurnal and seasonal trends in total gaseous mercury flux from three urban ground surfaces. Atmos Environ 40:4269–4284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gbor PK, Wen D, Meng F, Yang F, Zhang B, Sloan JJ (2006) Improved model for mercury emission, transport and deposition. Atmos Environ 40:973–983

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gustin MS (2003) Are mercury emissions from geologic sources significant? A status report. Sci Total Environ 304:153–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gustin MS, Stamenkovic J (2005) Effect of watering and soil moisture on mercury emissions from soils. Biogeochemistry 76:215–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gustin MS, Taylor GE Jr, Maxey RA (1997) Effect of temperature and air movement on the flux of elemental mercury from substrate to the atmosphere. J Geophys Res 102:3891–3898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbert VR, Miller GC (1990) Depth dependence of direct and indirect photolysis on soil surfaces. J Agric Food Chem 38:913–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holloway T, Voigt C, Morton J, Spak SN, Rutter AP, Schauer JJ (2012) An assessment of atmospheric mercury in the community multiscale air quality (CMAQ) model at an urban site and a rural site in the Great Lakes Region of North America. Atmos Chem Phys 12:7117–7133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim KH, Kim KY (1999) The exchange of gaseous mercury across soil-air interface in a residential area of Soul, Korea. Atmos Environ 33:3153–3165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim KH, Kim MY (2000) The effects of anthropogenic sources on temporal distribution characteristics of total gaseous mercury in Korea. Atmos Environ 34:3337–3347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim KH, Kim MY (2001) The temporal distribution characteristics of total gaseous mercury at an urban monitoring site in Seoul during 1999–2000. Atmos Environ 35:4253–4263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim SH, Han YJ, Holsen TM, Yi SM (2009) Characteristics of atmospheric speciated mercury concentrations [TGM, Hg(II) and Hg(p)] in Seoul, Korea. Atmos Environ 43:3267–3274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kocman D, Horvat M (2010) A laboratory based experimental study of mercury emission from contaminated soils in the River Idrijca catchment. Atmos Chem Phys 10:1417–1426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard TL, Taylor GE, Gustin MS, Fernandez GCJ (1998) Mercury and plants in contaminated soils: 1. Uptake, partitioning, and emission to the atmosphere. Environ Toxicol Chem 17:2063–2071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin CJ, Gustin MS, Singhasuk P, Eckley C, Miller M (2010) Empirical models for estimating mercury flux from soils. Environ Sci Technol 44:8522–8528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLarnon CR, Granite EJ, Pennline HW (2005) The PCO process for photochemical removal of mercury from flue gas. Fuel Process Technol 87:85–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meili M (1991) The coupling of mercury and organic matter in the biogeochemical cycle-towards a mechanistic model for the boreal forest zone. Water Air Soil Pollut 56:333–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller GC, Quashnick J, Hebert V (2001) Abstract paper—American Chemistry Society 221st, AGRO-016

  • Moore C, Carpi A (2005) Mechanisms of the emission of mercury from soil: role of UV radiation. J Geophys Res 110:D24302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore CW, Castro MS (2012) Investigation of factors affecting gaseous mercury concentrations in soils. Sci Total Environ 419:136–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson DW, Sommers LE (1996) Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Sparks DL, Page AL, Helmke PA, Loeppert RH, Soltanpour PN, Tabatabai MA, Johnston CT, Sumner ME (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 3: chemical methods. American Society of Agronomy, Inc. and Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, pp 961–1010

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen HT, Kim KH, Kim MY, Hong S, Youn YH, Shon ZH, Lee JS (2007) Monitoring of atmospheric mercury at a global atmospheric watch (GAW) site on An-Myun Island, Korea. Water Air Soil Pollut 185:149–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ott WR (1995) Environmental statistics and data analysis. CRC Press LLC, Florida

    Google Scholar 

  • Pal B, Ariya PA (2004) Gas-phase HO-initiated reactions of elemental mercury: kinetics, product studies, and atmospheric implications. Environ Sci Technol 38:5555–5566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park SY, Kim PR, Han YJ (2013) Mercury exchange flux from two different soil types and affecting parameters. Asian J Atmos Environ 7(4):199–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poissant L, Casimir A (1998) Water–air and soil–air exchange rate of total gaseous mercury measured at background sites. Atmos Environ 32:883–893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poissant L, Amyot M, Pilote M, Lean D (2000) Mercury water-air exchange over the upper St. Lawrence river and Lake Ontario. Environ Sci Technol 34:3069–3078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ponnamperum FN (1972) The chemistry of submerged soils, Academic Press, Inc.

  • Schlüter K (2000) Review; evaporation of mercury from soils. An integration and synthesis of current knowledge. Environ Geol 39:249–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scholtz MT, Van Heyst BJ, Schroeder WH (2003) Modelling of mercury emissions from background soils. Sci Total Environ 304:185–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuster E (1991) The behavior of mercury in the soil with special emphasis on complexation and adsorption processes—a review of the literature. Water Air Soil Pollut 56:667–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seinfeld JH, Pandis SN (2006) Atmospheric chemistry and physics: from air pollution to climate change, 2nd edn. Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Sommar J, Gardfeldt K, Stromberg D, Feng X (2001) A kinetic study of the gas-phase reaction between hydroxyl radical and atomic mercury. Atmos Environ 35:3049–3054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stamerkovic J, Gustin MS, Arnone JA, Johnson DW, Larsen JD, Verburg PSJ (2008) Atmospheric mercury exchange with a tallgrass prairie ecosystem housed in mesocosms. Sci Total Environ 406:227–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomiyasu T, Matsuyama A, Imura R, kodamatani H, Miyamoto J, Kono Y, Kocman D, Kotnik J, Fajon V, Horvat M (2012) The distribution of total and methylmercury concentrations in soils near the Idrija mercury mine, Slovenia, and the dependence of the mercury concentrations on the chemical composition and organic carbon levels of the soil. Environ Earth Sci 65:1309–1322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNEP (2013) Global mercury assessment 2013; source, emissions, releases and environmental transport

  • Wallschläger D, Kock HH, Schroeder WH, Lindberg SE, Ebinghaus R, Wilken RD (2000) Mechanism and significance of mercury volatilization from contaminated floodplains of the German river Elbe. Atmos Environ 34(22):3745–3755

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xin M, Gustin M, Johnson D (2007) Laboratory investigation of the potential for re-emission of atmospherically derived Hg from soils. Environ Sci Technol 41:4946–4951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang YK, Cheng Z, Shi XJ, Lin T, Wang DY (2007) Effect of organic matter and pH on mercury release from soils. J Environ Sci 19:1349–1354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zarate-Valdez JL, Zasoski RJ, Lauchli A (2006) Short-term effects of moisture content on soil solution pH and soil Eh. Soil Sci 171:423–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Lindberg SE (2001) Sunlight and iron(III)-induced photochemical production of dissolved gaseous mercury in freshwater. Environ Sci Technol 35(5):928–935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Lindberg SE, Kuiken T (2008) Mysterious diel cycles of mercury emission from soils held in the dark at constant temperature. Atmos Environ 42:5424–5433

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by Kangwon National University (2012) and by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2009-0066591).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technical Department, APM Engineering Co., Ltd., 388 Wonmiku, Buchoen, Kyunggi-do, 420-733, Republic of Korea

    Sang-Young Park

  2. Department of Environmental Science, College of Natural Science, Kangwon National University, 192-1, Hyoja-2-dong, Chuncheon, Kangwon-do, 200-701, Republic of Korea

    Pyung-Rea Kim & Young-Ji Han

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University, 8 Clarkson Ave., Potsdam, NY, 13699-5710, USA

    Thomas M. Holsen

Authors
  1. Sang-Young Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas M. Holsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pyung-Rea Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Young-Ji Han
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Young-Ji Han.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Park, SY., Holsen, T.M., Kim, PR. et al. Laboratory investigation of factors affecting mercury emissions from soils. Environ Earth Sci 72, 2711–2721 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3177-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3177-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation